3. Levitation

3. Levitation

In this time when flying the speed of sound is common, it may be ridiculous to say human have a capacity of floating in the air without any vehicles and tools. But we have a lot of stories about the phenomenon that people floated in the air by the power of something spiritual. Though there is no field researching this phenomenon strictly, this phenomenon levitation is very interesting even now. Ancient people who have the world view quite different from the current rationalism accepted, studied and even used the mysteries power that causes levitation.

 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Ignatius of Loyola

  It seems that there is a close connection between levitation and religion. There are many examples about it. Ignatius of Loyola was always suspended in the air thirty centimeter to the ground for his meditation. All believers who floated in the air feel a kind of religious ecstasy. Therefore it can be thought levitation is secondary phenomena caused by leaving the mind from the body and reality. Of course this phenomenon is not limited to the case of Christian. But Christian thought levitation by pagan magic or itself as a satanic phenomenon. So they prohibited their believers from studying about levitation.  

                     D.D.Home






                              levitation at Ward Cheney's house

If levitation happens without any physics causes, it is natural to think levitation can happen by psychokinesis. Spiritualists succeeded to Christians. One of the most famous spiritualistic medium, Daniel Douglas Home (1833 - 1886), he was willing to show a lot of people including royals and celebrities his spiritual power such as shaking a house, floating a table, causing smell or chill, playing accordion without touching and floating himself in the air. In July 1871, he performed a spiritual agency at Ward Cheney's housein London. He got trance and floated in the air while sitting down. He went out to the outside through the window and came in through another window. The room was third flour and eighty five feet to the ground. Thereafter he tried and succeeded again and again in front of a large number of people including scientists. Sir William Crookes, British scientist (1832 - 1919), started to research Home’s strange power. Crookes was these days one of the most famous scientist because of finding thallium and inventing a new vacuum tube. But he couldn’t find any trick and explanation of that phenomenon. And Home had never been charged as a fraud in public. Thereafter many psychical researchers tried to explain Home’s phenomenon. But there is no good explanation even now. 
                                               　　

Listening to such strange stories, we cannot help feeling the weakness of present science and that we live in between rationalism and experimentalism.

 reference: 英国心霊主義の台頭（Janet Oppenheim　 和田 芳久　訳 ）
　　　　　　　フェノメナ （J. ミッチェル、R. リカード、 村田 薫）